Vista 64 - I'm done with it on my current computer

[Freddie]

I was running Vista 64 bit for the last month and I've been impressed with the performance. Unfortunately, last weekend I have since downgraded to Vista 32 bit primarily because of lacking third-party support.

Which products didn't run on Vista 64?

My main work PC runs Vista 64. I switched over recently and I'm glad I did. It's better than XP in many ways. However Microsoft abandoned its traditional commitment to backward compatibility in many areas, and this is terribly aggravating. tFor example, my XP computers and the Vista computer can no longer find each other reliably on the network.

I just spent over an hour slogging through pages on Microsoft's website trying to fix the problem. Finally I fixed it, but here's what I had to do:

1. Upgrade to XP SP 3.

2. Rename the work group on the Vista machine because -- this is unbelievably stupid -- Vista gives a different name to the work group by default when you create a home network. (I could have renamed the XP machine's work groups instead. Either way works as long as all the machines use one name).

3. Examine the property page for the network adapter in the Vista PC and make sure a couple of settings for the new discovery protocol were enabled.

To require users to go through something like this just to make their new Vista PC work on their existing home network is insane. Something has gone seriously wrong at Microsoft that they could release something that works this way. I've been watching them for 25 years and I can't remember anything like this.